The Sri Lanka Army in a press communique yesterday expressed its gratitude to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) for extending its support to Sri Lanka Army. The communique lauded the assistance extended to Sri Lanka Army by the Commission in obtaining clearance for embarking on UN peacekeeping operations.
It also said “It is the opinion of the Sri Lanka Army that we, as Sri Lankans, should be proud that the UN has selected Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to carry out the domestic mechanism in HR screening process.”
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has rendered a significant contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security by assisting UN’s peacekeeping operations. The participation of Sri Lanka Army’s peacekeepers in UN missions date back to 1957, to the period of ‘classical’ peacekeeping mission which saw the establishment of the first United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) to secure an end to the Suez crisis, the communique pointed up.
It followed up with a small scale contingent of personnel deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in 1960. It said, after decades of silence Sri Lanka Army re-commenced its contribution to United Nations with a deployment of an infantry battalion in Haiti in 2004 (MINUSTAH), which lasted till the closing down of the mission in 2010.
“Sri Lanka Army personnel are deployed in six UN peace-keeping missions and are working as Staff Officers in the UN Headquarters, New York. There are more than 400 personnel deployed as members of three contingents in Lebanon, South Sudan and Mali. There are 35 officers serving as Staff Officers and military observers in various UN missions and also at the UN headquarters. More than 18600 personnel are serving as UN peacekeepers. Of them some have paid the supreme sacrifice in their efforts to bring harmony and peace to the world.
“Apart from being subjected to strict selection process, one of the compulsory prerequisite for anybody to become a blue helmet, that is to become a civilian or military attaché of the UN is to be cleared of Human Rights (HR) violations Sri Lanka Army has engaged in that process, and has produced the best of peacekeepers.
It is Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that assists Sri Lanka Army, as in the case of other sister services and Police, in obtaining HR clearance for its troops who have been selected for embarking on UN peacekeeping duties.
In that effort Sri Lanka Army and HRCSL have maintained cordial and professional relationship with understanding and respect to each other. Sri Lanka Army has the highest confidence in HRCSL that it does its utmost to expedite this HR screening process. It is requested that any queries in this regard or any matter with regard to UN peacekeeping by Sri Lanka Army be referred to the Commander of the Army or the Directorate of Media of Sri Lanka Army for accurate and current information without resorting to unauthorized persons/entity in order to allow the effort of Sri Lanka Army in UN peacekeeping missions.
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